BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FPGirl.com, at the leading edge of digital fashion design for tweens and the first girl-driven commerce platform, today announced that Sarah McIlroy, the company’s founder and CEO, has been presented with the L’Oréal Top 5 Women in Digital 2012 Award. The L'Oréal NEXT Generation Awards recognize five entrepreneurial women leading groundbreaking technology-driven companies with the potential for changing the beauty industry.
FPGirl was founded on a revolutionary approach to e-commerce: Empowering tween (ages 5 to 12) girls to design their own clothes and interact with other girls for crowd-sourced fashion decisions. This girl-driven style approach to e-commerce gives the tween demographic, a growing population of girls that are highly participative and connected, the power to control what they wear and the means to express their unique personalities.
“That so many distinguished women are involved with this initiative is a testament to the strength of and need for a program that recognizes top female entrepreneurs, that are making strides at the intersection of beauty and technology,” stated Rachel Weiss, vice president, Digital Strategy and Interactive Marketing at L'Oréal USA.
“I am thrilled with the recognition our company has received for our role in changing the fashion and beauty world for tween girls via our immersive e-commerce platform,” said McIlroy. “And I’m honored to sit alongside other groundbreaking companies. This award is a tribute to our commitment to empowering tween girls with the opportunity to design what they wear, have a voice in fashion direction and gain the confidence to wear what reflects their personality.”
The Top 5 Women in Digital 2012 honorees were chosen from hundreds of open-call nominations by L’Oréal’s Women in Digital Advisory Board, senior executives and venture capital (VC) partners. The winners will have the opportunity to meet with VC firms, L’Oréal executives, partners and the press. The Top 10 finalists will be invited on an ongoing basis to attend all L’Oréal Women in Digital meet-ups in local markets and internally to provide mentorship.
McIlroy founded FPGirl off an idea that grew out of her own positive experiences designing clothes with her mother, and in turn sharing those experiences with her daughters. The site offers six million different design combinations and enables young designers to create, customize, purchase and share their own fashion creations.
Prior to founding FPGirl, McIlroy worked as a marketing and business development executive for gaming industry leaders like Atari, Hasbro and Midway Amusement Games. In these roles, she initiated multi-faceted partnership programs with Apple, NASCAR, Yahoo, Pepsi, T-Mobile and other Fortune 500 companies. She has also worked in branding, product design and development and merchandising strategies.
About FPGirl
FPGirl.com introduced as FashionPlaytes in 2009, is a leading e-commerce fashion design destination for tween (ages 5-12) girls. Offering customers the means to create, share and buy original looks, FPGirl is the first website that allows tweens to transform creative ideas into wearable fashions. Leveraging the power of thousands of tween consumers through digital interaction and crowd sourcing, FPGirl, features and sells the unique styles of young girls nationally. FPGirl is funded by a number of top-tier investors, including Fairhaven Capital, New Atlantic Ventures, Launch Capital and Golden Seeds. For more information, please visit www.FPGirl.com or www.fashionplaytes.com.
About L’Oréal Women in Digital 2012
L’Oréal USA Women in Digital recognized five women leading groundbreaking digital companies that focus on how technology is revolutionizing the beauty industry during the NEXT Generation Awards ceremony on July 17th in New York City. Honorees were given the opportunity to meet with venture capital firms, L’Oréal USA executives and partners who will help advise them in taking their business to higher levels. In addition, L'Oréal USA Women in Digital will invite the honorees on an ongoing basis to attend all L’Oréal USA Women in Digital meet-ups in local markets and will provide mentorship both internally and through the L’Oréal USA Women in Digital Advisory Board.